Washington County Schools

Revision Date: May 7, 2024

In support of strengthening student academic achievement, Washington County Schools receives Title I, Part A funds and therefore must jointly develop with, agree on with, and distribute to parents and family members of participating children a written parent and family engagement policy that contains information required by Section 1116(a)(2) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The policy establishes the district’s expectations and objectives for meaningful parent and family engagement and describes how the district will implement a number of specific parent and family engagement activities. 

Washington County Schools agree to implement the following requirements as outlined by Section 1116:  

• The school district will put into operation programs, activities, and procedures for the engagement of parents and family members in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs. These programs, activities, and procedures will be planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents and family members of participating children. 

• Consistent with Section 1116, the school district will work with its schools to ensure that the required school-level parent and family engagement policies meet the requirements of Section 1116(b) of the ESSA, (Every Student Succeeds Act)and each include as a component a school-parent compact consistent with Section 1116(d) of the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act).

• In carrying out the Title I, Part A parent and family engagement requirements to the extent practicable, the school district and its schools will provide full opportunities for the participation of families with limited English proficiency, limited literacy, disabilities, of migratory children, who are economically disadvantaged, or are of any racial or ethnic minority background, including providing information and school reports required under Section 1111 of the ESSA in an understandable and uniform format including alternative formats upon request and, to the extent practicable, in a language families understand.

• If the district plan for Title I, Part A, developed under Section 1112 of the ESEA, is not satisfactory to the families of participating children, the school district will submit any parent comments with the plan when the school district submits the plan to the state department of education. 

• The school district will be governed by the following definition of family engagement and expects that its Title I schools will carry out programs, activities, and procedures in accordance with this definition in Section 8101 of the ESSA:

Family engagement means the participation of families in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring:

(A) Families play an integral role in assisting their child’s learning;

(B)  Families are encouraged to be actively involved in their child’s education at school;

(C) Families are full partners in their child’s education and are included, as appropriate, in    decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child; and

(D) Other activities are carried out, such as those described in Section 1116 of the ESEA.

Washington County Schools will take the following actions to involve parents and family members in jointly developing its LEA plan under Section 1112, and the development of support and improvement plans under paragraphs (1) and (2) of Section 1111(d) of the ESEA:  

Washington County Schools will establish a district Parent and Family Engagement Policy Council and a district Improvement Plan Council.  Both councils will be comprised of administrators, teachers, parents, and families.  These independent councils will meet annually to review, assess, develop, and implement a district Improvement Plan and a district Parent and Family Engagement Policy that will be distributed or accessible to all students and families.  Each Title I school will establish a Parent and Family Engagement Council that will include administrators, teachers, parents, and families and will meet a minimum of two times annually.  This council will jointly review, assess, develop, and implement a school level Parent and Family Engagement Policy that will be distributed or accessible to all students and families in a language that parents can understand.    

Washington County Schools will coordinate, support, and provide technical assistance to all Title I schools in planning and implementing effective parent and family engagement practices to improve student academic achievement and school performance.  The district will provide informational sessions, administrator and teacher support, programming and documentation review, purchasing assistance, and compliance guidance.  The expectations set forth in the district’s Parent and Family Engagement Policy shall be clearly communicated and accessible to all schools.   

Washington County Schools will take the following actions to conduct, with the meaningful involvement of parents and family members, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of this parent and family engagement policy in improving the academic quality of its Title I, Part A schools. The evaluation will include identifying barriers to greater participation by families in activities.  The evaluation will also include identifying the needs of parents and family members to assist with the learning of their children, including engaging with school personnel and teachers and strategies to support successful school and family interactions. The school district will use the findings of the evaluation about its parent and family engagement policy to design evidence-based strategies for more effective family engagement, and to revise, if necessary, its parent and family engagement policies.

Each Title I school will distribute and/or make accessible to all families, a Parental Needs Assessment.  Each school will also distribute a Professional Needs assessment to be completed by school faculty and staff. 

 These assessments are distributed and calculated by a principal designee at each school.  Upon completion, each school's Parent and Family Engagement Council will evaluate the findings; identify family involvement participation barriers, and needs of parents assisting with the learning of their children.   The school council will also use evaluation findings to coordinate and integrate family engagement strategies, determine school level allocations of federal funds, and identify ways to increase parent and family engagement effectiveness through implementation of relevant programs, activities, and training.   

Washington County Schools will involve the parents and family members of children served in Title I, Part A schools in decisions about how the 1 percent of Title I, Part A funds reserved for parent and family engagement is spent and will ensure that not less than 90 percent of the 1 percent reserved goes directly to Title I schools.  

Each Title I school receives an annual budget including a parent and family engagement allocation that exceeds the required 1 percent of Title I, A funds reserved for parent and family engagement.  Schools are allowed to use additional funds to support parent engagement; however, their allocated engagement funds may only be used for parent and family engagement.  Each school reviews their annual budget with the Parent and Family Engagement Council to determine how their funds will be used.   

Washington County Schools will coordinate and integrate parent and family engagement strategies, to the extent feasible and appropriate, with other relevant federal, state, and local laws and programs that encourage and support families in more fully participating in the education of their children.

District efforts coordinate, integrate, and support various parent volunteer and transitional programs such as PASS, (Parents Assisting Student Success), PTA, PTO, Pre K, Asbury Family Resource Center, Head Start, Kindergarten transition, and High School Readiness Day.

Washington County Schools will, with the assistance of its Title I schools, build families’ capacity for strong family engagement by providing materials and training on such topics as literacy training and using technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy) to help families work with their children to improve their children’s academic achievement. Assistance will also be provided to parents and families in understanding the following topics:

• The challenging state academic standards;

• The state and local academic assessments including alternate assessments;

• The requirements of Title I, Part A;

• How to monitor their child’s progress; 

• How to work with educators

The district will support and build the school’s capacity for effective family engagement through the district website, www.wcde.org, by providing access to resources that promote and assist parental understanding of state academic standards, state and local academic assessments, and district, school, and student state proficiency.  District processes and programs also support continual monitoring of individual student progress and achievement through PowerSchool, progress reports, and report cards as well as provide opportunities for families to collaborate and work with educators to improve student achievement through district scheduled parent/teacher conferences.  

The district provides materials and training to equip families to work with their children to improve academic achievement including the implementation of 1:1 student technology through the distribution of chrome books and the development of targeted family technology instructional videos and resources on www.wcde.org.

Washington County Schools will, with the assistance of its schools and families, educate its teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, principals, and other school leaders, and other staff in the value and utility of contributions of families, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with families as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between families and schools by:  

• Paying reasonable and necessary expenses associated with family engagement activities.

• Training families to enhance the involvement of other families.

• Maximize family engagement and participation in their children’s education, arranging school meetings at a variety of times or conducting in-home conferences between teachers or other educators who work directly with participating children, with families who are unable to attend those conferences at school.

• Adopting and implementing model approaches to improving family engagement.

• Establishing a district wide parent advisory council to provide advice on all matters related to parent and family engagement in Title I, Part A programs.

• Developing appropriate roles for community-based organizations and businesses, including faith-based organizations, in family engagement activities.

This district parent and family engagement policy has been developed jointly and agreed on with parents and family members of children participating in Title I, Part A programs.  This policy was adopted by Washington County Schools and will be in effect for the period of the 2024-2025 school year.